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#D62018 Conference Day 1 Notes

Ron Hunter – @ronhunter

Planning for X – Backward Planning

“Leadership and discipleship are two siblings in the same family.”

We all have an “x”…the place where we are going to die. If you knew where it was, how would you live differently? How about the kids in your church? What would you do between now and then? With an end spot, how would you begin now to get there?

As families, we have taken our kids to church and said…you do it, you’re the expert, you disciple my family.

That one hour a week is nothing when it comes to a relationship with Jesus Christ. The hour a week at church is not enough for discipling our children.

The Characteristic of a Healthy Church: Keep Refining Discipleship. Learning to be Christ-like and as a result, making disciple-makers.

Teens today are twice as likely as adults to say that they are atheists.

The problem is we can not become complacent.

They are leaving the church.

They are getting married later.

We have never seen such an effort to turn Christians into atheists.

Young people are leaving the church at 5-6x the historic rate.

Most young people are sighting “intellectual doubts” for leaving the church.

There is a pride in skepticism within this next generation.

What can we do in our churches to rescue skeptics?

Let young people know it’s okay to answer questions. Jesus answered people with sincere questions.

Cultivate environments where it’s okay for people to express questions and doubt because there are people waiting in line to answer those questions.

Help young people see that studying history and science can bring them closer to God.

We need to give kids the confidence that we have truth on our side.

“We have an unfair advantage on the marketplace of ideas. We have truth on our side.”

Doubt is like a nightmare. If you hold it in, it will erode your soul. But if you let it out and talk about it, it seems to lose the emotional hold it has on us.

One of the 6 reasons young people are leaving the church is because they don’t feel the church is a safe place to ask questions.

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect,” 1 Peter 3:15

Family-Equipping Ministry (Church and Home co-champions: A combination of the two)

The family-equipping ministry model retains some age-organized ministries but restructures the congregation to partner with parents at every level of ministry so that parents are acknowledged, equipped, and held accountable for the discipleship of their children.

Family-Equipping is a Both/And model.

Why not have a family service? Why not have family-focused events? Have some of group 1 as well as group 2 in your family ministry model.

Mobilize parents to be all things for their kids. Be mentally and emotionally engaged in the life of their kids. We should want parents to be a good parent.